TOUCH-SENSITIVE OPERATING DEVICE FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE AND MOTOR VEHICLE

• US 20140375584A1
• Filed: 12/20/2012
• Published: 12/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH (Valeo SE)
• Original Assignee: Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH (Valeo SE)
• Inventors: Kaiser, Frank, Staude, Sascha, Mueller, Stefan
• Granted Patent: US 9,310,949 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/141 Activation of instrument input devices by approaching fingers or pens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/143 Touch sensitive instrument input devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/685 Instruments movable with steering column
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/782 on the steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/22 Display screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/53 Movable instruments, e.g. slidable
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/1476 comprising switch controlling means located near the free end of the lever, e.g. press buttons, rotatable rings
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/955 using a capacitive detector
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/962 Capacitive touch switches

Abstract

The invention relates to a touch-sensitive operating device (1) for a motor vehicle, having an actuation lever (2), in particular a steering column stalk, which has an elongate configuration, having a sensor arrangement comprising at least one touch-sensitive and/or proximity-sensitive sensor element (4) which is arranged on the actuation lever (2), and having an electronic evaluation device which is coupled to the at least one sensor element (4) and is configured to detect the at least one sensor element (4) being touched and/or the at least one sensor element (4) being approached. The evaluation device is configured to identify an operating gesture of an operator on the actuation lever on the basis of a combination of at least two detected touches on the sensor arrangement and/or approaches towards the sensor arrangement, and to trigger a predetermined operating function on the basis of the identified operating gesture.

Claims

1. A touch-sensitive operating device for a motor vehicle, comprising:

an actuation lever that is a steering column stalk having an elongate configuration;

a sensor arrangement comprising at least one touch-sensitive and/or proximity-sensitive sensor element which is arranged on the actuation lever; and

an electronic evaluation device which is coupled to the at least one sensor element and is configured to detect the at least one sensor element being touched and/or the at least one sensor element being approached,

wherein the evaluation device is configured to identify an operating gesture of an operator on the actuation lever on the basis of a combination of at least two detected touches on the sensor arrangement and/or approaches towards the sensor arrangement, and to trigger a predetermined operating function on the basis of the identified operating gesture.

2. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the actuation lever is mechanically actuable in at least two manners and the evaluation device is configured to determine in advance, on the basis of the detected operating gesture, the manner of an intended mechanical operation of the actuation lever.

3. The operating device according to claim 2, wherein the evaluation device is configured, once the manner of the intended mechanical operation has been identified, to trigger an operating function which is different from an operating function associated with said manner of mechanical operation, in to activate a driver assistance system and/or a predetermined display on a display device.

4. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor arrangement has at least two touch-sensitive and/or proximity-sensitive sensor elements which are arranged on the actuation lever, at an angle to one another, wherein the evaluation device is configured to identify the operating gesture on the basis of a combination of at least two detected touches of different sensor elements and/or approaches towards different sensor elements.

5. The operating device according to claim 4, wherein the evaluation device is configured to detect a predetermined combination of individual sensor elements being touched at the same time and/or said predetermined combination of the sensor elements being approached at the same time and to identify the operating gesture on the basis of this.

6. The operating device according to claim 4, wherein the evaluation device is configured to detect a temporal sequence of touches on the individual sensor elements and/or approaches towards the individual sensor elements and to identify the operating gesture on the basis of the sequence.

7. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation device is configured to detect a duration of the touch and/or the proximity and to identify the operating gesture on the basis of the duration.

8. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor arrangement has a multiplicity of touch-sensitive and/or proximity-sensitive sensor elements which are arranged so as to be distributed annularly in the circumferential direction of the actuation lever.

9. The operating device according to claim 8, wherein the evaluation device is configured to identify a rotational movement of at least one finger of the user over the sensor elements around the actuation lever in the circumferential direction and to trigger a predetermined function owing to said rotational movement.

10. The operating device according to claim 9, wherein the evaluation device is configured to change the present value of a parameter owing to the rotational movement, said parameter being selected from the group consisting of a volume and a brightness of an illuminant.

11. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the operating device is a capacitive operating device and the at least one sensor element is designed as a capacitive sensor electrode which forms a part of an actuation capacitor the capacitance of which is variable by touch and/or approach, wherein the evaluation device is configured to detect the change in the capacitance of the actuation capacitor and, as a result of this, to identify the touch and/or approach.

12. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor element is arranged on an operating element of the actuation lever, which operating element is moveable relative to a main body of the actuation lever and is rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the elongate actuation lever.

13. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation device is configured to output, on the basis of the identified operating gesture, a control signal to an optical display device, as a result of which control signal a menu with a multiplicity of selectable menu entries can be displayed on the display device.

14. The operating device according to claim 13, wherein the at least one sensor element having a rotational movement of at least one finger over the sensor elements around the actuation lever in the circumferential direction thereof, by which one of the displayed menu entries is selectable and, in this connection, is optically highlightable on the display device.

15. The operating device according to claim 13, wherein the selection of a selected menu entry can be confirmed by means of the sensor arrangement.

16. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the actuation lever is mechanically operable in at least two manners and the evaluation device is configured to store an item of information relating to the manner of the mechanical operation associated with an item of information relating to the identified operating gesture in a memory device when the actuation lever is mechanically actuated.

17. A motor vehicle having an operating device according to claim 1.